An Anti-Hero's Safe Haven
by lunastars
Summary: Rick Grimes felt like he was losing everything, after the fall of the prison he found reasons to keep going but it was two years after the fall that he and his son finally found their reason to be happy again -[a happy, light one shot for Rick in dedication of the wonderful work Andrew Lincoln does]


**A/N: **_If you watched the PCAs then you'll know that Rick Grimes aka Andrew Lincoln won the award for favourite TV anti-hero! :D If you didn't watch it then you know now! Anyway, I figured being an anti-hero on a show like The Walking Dead doesn't provide very many happy scenes so I thought I'd give Rick one in honour of Andy winning that award – something he truly deserved._

**IMPORTANT: **_This is set long after where the show is at the mid-season finale (season 4). It may contain spoilers if you haven't reached that point. If you're a TWD fan for the zombies, gore and violence then you will find none of that here. This is a happy, lighter side of TWD. Enjoy._

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Rick sat on the front steps. He couldn't believe how well things were looking up. He was sure that this would go horribly wrong, everything else had but they had been here for two years now. For about a year after the prison everything was a horrible mess, if he didn't have Carl by his side Rick was sure that he would have given himself over willingly to death, to the real death, to be with his wife and his daughter. But Carl kept him going and as the months past they both grew closer and stronger until they ran into a familiar face. Daryl.

Daryl had led them to Beth. The two of them had been travelling together and set up their own camp. Both Rick and Carl were shocked to see the new found strength and ability in Beth but they accepted it, knowing it would work. The news of Judith shocked Beth back into her old self for a while but soon the four of them were travelling on the road again, covering each other's backs and surviving again, finding the power to move on.

Bit by bit they ran into their old group. Maggie, Sasha, Glenn and the people on the bus. Bob had been with him but one night while he, Maggie and Sasha were setting up camp he was bitten and after a few hours had to be put down. They'd been trying to stay with the bus but lost it until after a couple more months they found it abandoned, it wasn't long after that till they found Glenn snooping around like the old days looking for supplies. He took the two of them back to the others. The shock was pretty fast setting as Maggie and Sasha both realised that only a third of the bus made it.

Together they continued to travel until they found their current location. It was a secluded location, at least to the naked eye. If they hadn't of been looking for somewhere they probably wouldn't have seen it. After a sweep they decided to set up camp for a little while at least. Slowly they helped conceal the place more and more as well as scouting for places they look for supplies. There was more than enough land to start growing their own food and a running water supply near the land was also a big help. They were there for a couple of months when they came across an injured Michonne. She'd broken her leg and had holed up in a building in the nearest town. Between what Maggie and Beth and some others they were able to set her leg and strap it up to heal.

More months passed until they were there a year. It had been around two years since the fall of the prison and the fall of the Governor. Most they knew were dead but Tyrese, some of the children and Carol's fate were unknown. None of them wanted to but believing that they were dead seemed the most logical. Until one day Daryl was hit in the back of the head while out on a hunt, only to be carried back by his assailant; Tyrese.

A disoriented Daryl had stayed awake long enough to explain where they were. It took Tyrese a few tries but he soon found their camp. He looked like he was only just surviving. He'd lost a lot of weight and his complexion was off. They (particularly Sasha) made sure he was fed and watered before he explained his story. He soon explained that he had run off with the kids. That one or two hadn't made it but the others were doing great. The shock of his story was that he had run into Carol. A shared look between Rick and Daryl showed that they both figured she was definitely dead, but then Tyrese shocked them again. He was willing to give her a chance for the sake of keeping the kids safe and they'd been a group for many months, slowly he learned to trust Carol again. Then the third shock came.

A couple from the group went with Tyrese in a car to pick the others up. It took hours but soon they came back. Rick and Carl both collapsed to the ground as Carol helped a small child out of the car. Judith.

She was bigger now. She was close to being three years old at the time. Rick had to count in his head to work it out. She was close to one years old when the prison fell. They'd been away from there for two years, which would make her close to being three years. Even Carl seemed to be working it out. Neither of them could believe that she was standing there or that she was grinning at them. As soon as Carol let go of her hand she ran towards them and they both caught her.

That was a year and a bit ago. It was closing in on Judith's fourth birthday. Everyone who had come to the camp was still alive and doing well. Michonne walked with a bit of limp and there had been more than a few missed calls but they had a life here now. As Rick sat watched everyone working he still couldn't believe it. They had plenty of land for Judith and the other kids to play and enjoy what bits of life they could. They had their own garden patch and a place to keep live animals so they could consider breeding or just simply keeping as much food as they could for as long as possible. His favourite thing to do was to sit on the front steps and watch. It surprisingly stopped him from losing his mind. For once thinking back actually helped.

But his mind was brought forward.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

He stood from the steps and jogged down them, making his way across the grass. Judith was running towards him. Beth was stood nearby watching, making sure that she was okay. Only when Judith got closer to Rick did Beth look away.

He reached down and scooped her up as she reached him. He threw her into the air and caught her. Straight away he attacked her face with light kisses. She giggled trying to get away from him.

"Daddy, daddy, stop!" she squealed.

He tickled her tummy. "Why?"

"Because that tickles!"

He chuckled as he stopped and held her on his hip. "Does it?"

She used her whole hand to push her hair back out of her eyes. Curls, big and thick. They were Lori's colour, in fact everything about her screamed Lori and even Carl. As much as Rick wished he could see himself in her, he was glad he didn't see Shane.

"Yeah," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Rick sat down on the ground, bringing her round into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned into him, watching her others. Her legs draped over Rick's crossed ones and wriggled her feet playfully.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"You're holding me too tight."

He blinked once before loosening his grip slightly. "Sorry, Princess."

"You okay?"

"I am," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"Why?"

"Why do I hold you too tight?"

She nodded. "And Carl, and everyone."

"You're a little miracle that's why, you know the story of your Mom right?" Judith nodded but remained quiet. They'd told her a much less gory version and made it absolutely clear that she'd done nothing wrong. "Well, the odds were against you from day one but you were stronger than most of us. At least that's what we thought."

"Then I got lost?"

"That's what we thought," Rick confirmed. "But it turns out you were just really good at playing hide and seek with Uncle Tyrese and Aunty Carol."

"I'm the best at hiding!"

"You are," Rick said with a soft smile. "We couldn't find you and we all thought we never would. We were so scared but you survived, you came back to us, against the odds."

"And I can stay?

"Always," Rick assured, kissing the top of her head again. "Carl and I will never let you go without us."

She nodded her little head and yawned. "I'm tired."

Rick smiled, he wrapped his arms around her better, acting as a sort of blanket. "That's okay, you go to sleep. I'll carry you inside in a bit."

"Sleeping outside is bad," she mumbled.

"I know, but I'm here and so is Carl and the others," he told her. "You'll be safe, I promise."

Judith didn't say another word, just yawned. She curled up a little, turning ever so slightly on her side. Rick didn't move. He just shifted his attention from watching the others to watching her. The rise and fall of her tiny chest as her breathing changed and she fell asleep.

Rick couldn't believe it. She was young and tiny but smart. They wanted her to be knowledgeable about the world she was in so she could survive, but she was smart in other ways. Reading, writing, talking… She was doing well at all of them. She showed interests in difference things. Music, art, maths, gardening, medicine… All different things the group taught her and more. She was like a sponge, soaking up every bit of knowledge she could and she wanted to. Rick slowly became happy that she was born in this world. Explaining it wasn't half as painful as he thought, she seemed to accept it more, maybe because she didn't know any better. But that made for story time. Every night they'd tell Judith stories before bed about life before the apocalypse.

Life was at least a little lighter and Rick couldn't be happier. Whenever things went South he had things to keep him going. The fact that Carl was a better man now than he ever thought. He was 17 now and Rick couldn't be happier. He knew his son was there whenever he needed him. And on those rare occasions that Carl wasn't there then he had Judith. Always smiling, always wanting to see him, his little princess.

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**A/N: **_More of a rambling of sorts, but I had this vision I guess you could say of Rick throwing Judith (now a child) into the air and calling her Princess and tickling her and yeah. It made me smile so I hope you enjoyed and congrats again to Andy! :)_

R&R


End file.
